Pages

March 24, 2015

24/03/2015: Step aside quinoa: is teff the new ‘superfood’ grain?

Chia seeds, quinoa and coconut everything.
These products have taken over our shelves in the quest for a healthy diet. Now
there's a new contender to add to the gluten-free mix: the Ethiopian grain
teff, Good Food reports.

Teff is the smallest known grain in the
world, tinier even than a poppy seed. It's used most commonly in the flatbread
injera, which is eaten across East Africa. But teff can also be added to cakes
and muffins, eaten as porridge or used as a polenta replacement.

Hailed by some as the next big
"superfood", just how super is this ancient little seed?

Teff is high in iron and calcium and packed
full of B vitamins, which makes it great for energy plus it has an estimated
20-30 per cent resistant starch, which is a type of fibre that helps blood
sugar management, weight control and maintaining gastrointestinal health.

Available in some health food stores and
Coles supermarkets, Teff isn't the first power-packed product to hit the shops
in recent years. So you could be forgiven for asking: how does it measure up to
current go-to ingredients quinoa and chia seeds?

"Scientifically it's not really fair
to compare cereals and seeds. Each one has their own benefits and
downfalls," Crawford says.

"Teff is a predominantly
carbohydrate-based grain and is similar to quinoa in carbohydrate and protein
content. It is probably fairest to compare these two."

Chia and quinoa contain folate whereas teff
has none. But teff packs a little something that the others do not.

"Vitamin K is a fat soluble vitamin
which is required for blood clotting and also bone health," Crawford
says.

"Interestingly, teff is the only one
of the three 'grains' which contains this. Could teff be the new bone health
superfood?"